Delaying Disposing: Examining the Relationship between Procrastination and Clutter across Generations

Predictors of e-waste: Considerations for community psychology prevention and intervention

E-waste, the overabundance of unused technology products, is a growing issue as new technology is rapidly innovated and our society promotes the need to always have the "latest and greatest" products. Community psychology, as a field, is concerned with the global climate crisis, and subsequently must be concerned with e-waste. This study tested predictors of individual's likelihood to recycle e-waste with 883 US adults (459 males, 420 females, 3 other/nonbinary; 62.7% 54-year-old or younger) through a crowdsourcing procedure. Similar to previous recycling literature, the present study found that personal norms, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control positively predicted the likelihood for an individual to recycle; however, the present study provides further empirical evidence for these relationships and expands recycling literature by focusing on e-waste recycling. Implications for the field of community psychology with preventive and interventive actions are detailed.

Older Adults and Clutter: Age Differences in Clutter Impact, Psychological Home, and Subjective Well-Being

Previous research found mixed results for clutter's impact on individuals' sense of home and subjective well-being in a variety of samples. In this retrospective cross-sectional study, archival data were utilized to examine the relationship between clutter, psychological home, and subjective well-being across two age categories, specifically older adults aged ≥65 (n = 225), and younger adults aged ≤64 (n = 225). Three moderation analyses used age categories as a moderator exploring the relationship between (a) clutter predicting psychological home, (b) psychological home predicting subjective well-being, and (c) clutter predicting subjective well-being. Results found that age categories significantly moderated the relationship between clutter and psychological home but did not moderate the other variable relationships.

I Let Depression and Anxiety Drown Me: Identifying Factors Associated with Resilience Based on Journaling using Machine Learning and Thematic Analysis

Over the years, there has been a global increase in the use of technology to deliver interventions for health and wellness, such as improving peoples mental health and resilience. An example of such technology is the Q-Life app which aims to improve peoples resilience to stress and adverse life events through various coping mechanisms, including journaling. Using a combination of sentiment and thematic analysis, this paper presents the results of analyzing 6023 journal entries from 755 users. We uncover both positive and negative factors that are associated with resilience. First, we apply two lexicon-based and eight machine learning (ML) techniques to classify journal entries into positive or negative sentiment polarity, and then compare the performance of these classifiers to determine the best performing classifier overall. Our results show that Support Vector Machine (SVM) is the best classifier overall, outperforming other ML classifiers and lexicon-based classifiers with a high F1-score of 89.7%. Second, we conduct thematic analysis of negative and positive journal entries to identify themes representing factors associated with resilience either negatively or positively, and to determine various coping mechanisms. Our findings reveal 14 negative themes such as stress, worry, loneliness, lack of motivation, sickness, relationship issues, as well as depression and anxiety. Also, 13 positive themes emerged including self-efficacy, gratitude, socialization, progression, relaxation, and physical activity. Seven (7) coping mechanisms are also identified including time management, quality sleep, and mindfulness. Finally, we reflect on our findings and suggest technological interventions that address the negative factors to promote resilience.

Procrastination during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review

Procrastination involves voluntarily or habitually delaying unpleasant tasks for later. It is characterized by short-term benefits and long-term costs. The COVID-19 pandemic set specific circumstances that may have influenced procrastination behavior. This scoping review identified the existing peer-reviewed literature in English or Spanish about procrastination during the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2020 to April 2021) in six electronic databases. To conduct the review, a five-step methodological framework, as well as established PRISMA guidelines, was followed. A total of 101 articles were found. After removing duplicates and reviewing the articles, only 13 were included in the review. Findings indicate that procrastination was studied mostly in academic contexts in various parts of the globe. Procrastination behavior was related to anxiety, distress, time management, self-control, and other variables. There is limited information about interventions to prevent or decrease procrastinating behaviors in the context of confinement or in the living conditions generated by the pandemic. Future research should consider how procrastination evolved during the pandemic using longitudinal methodologies. Individual differences related to procrastination also should be identified, and the evaluation of the efficacy of existing interventions is still needed. This information might help in the creation of appropriate interventions that target detrimental procrastination behaviors.

The Meaning of Home in Male Migration: Listening to Men’s Experiences

We assessed the sense of psychological home among adult men (n = 17; M age = 29.7 years old) who had experienced migration to Italy, focusing on the relationship between psychological home and the process of integration into the new country. Psychological home is a dynamic process in which people sense a safe and secure environment that ranges beyond the confines of a structured dwelling, a process which is reflective and which communicates one’s self-identity. Participants engaged in a semistructured interview with the aim of establishing a generic concept of psychological home and identifying the issues that arise at the intersection of psychological home and migration. The results highlighted certain themes about the meaning that psychological home assumes in the lives of migrants and about the way in which the migration experience acts to support or hinder the process of building this sense of home. Of special interest is the idea that individuals might develop multiple psychological homes related to the different places and relationships that they experience. In this sense, establishment of a psychological home might be considered the ideal affective state for psychological adaptation to a new country.

Procrastination and problematic new media use: the mediating role of future anxiety

In recent years, the new media have become so attractive that they are used for meetings, entertainment, and work. People more and more often use Facebook or phones instead of doing their work or family duties. The main aim of the present study was to test the mediating role of future anxiety in the relationship between procrastination and problematic new media use. The participants were students (N = 478), aged 18 to 27 (M = 19.93, SD = 1.77); 64% of the sample were women. The General Procrastination Scale, the Decisional Procrastination Scale, the Facebook Intrusion Questionnaire, the Adapted Mobile Phone Use Habits, and the Future Anxiety Scale—Short Form were used. The study showed that those students who procrastinated often reported a high tendency to engage in problematic new media use and a high level of future anxiety. The findings of the study have important implications for research on problematic Facebook and mobile phone use. They may be applicable in the work of psychologists, psychiatrists, and therapists, both in prevention and in developing online addiction therapies.

Bathroom Modifications, Clutter, and Tripping Hazards: Prevalence and Changes after Incident Falls in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Objectives: To describe the prevalence of bathroom modifications, clutter, and tripping hazards in the homes of US older adults and to examine changes after an incident fall. Methods: We used data from the 2015-2017 National Health and Aging Trends Study (n = 7499). Outcomes were the prevalence of bathroom modifications, clutter, and tripping hazards and changes after incident fall. Results: In 2015, 26.5% of community-dwelling older adults had clutter or tripping hazards in the home, and 69.3% had at least one bathroom modification. Compared to nonfallers, older adults with multiple falls were significantly more likely to modify the bathroom. The magnitude of hazard reduction was similar after multiple falls but was not statistically significant. Discussion: Bathroom modifications are common and increase after multiple falls. A single incident fall does not appear to lead to home environment changes to reduce fall risk. Targeting home hazards may be an opportunity to reduce fall risk.